Police: Hunt for Madeleine goes on

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Portuguese police are still investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance a year after the British toddler vanished without trace from a beach resort villa, a senior detective said on Saturday.

Church services were taking place in Madeleine's home town of Rothley in Leicestershire, central England, and in the Portuguese resort town of Praia da Luz on Saturday, the first anniversary of her apparent abduction, The Associated Press reported.

"At this stage, nothing has been determined regarding possible charges or closing the case," Alipio Ribeiro, head of the Policia Judiciaria investigative department, said in quotes from the Portuguese news agency Lusa carried by AP. He said police were still collecting and analyzing evidence.

Portugal's Attorney General Fernando Pinto Monteiro said it was possible that Madeleine would still be found, but added that only 20 percent of one million children missing worldwide each year were found, AP reported.

"We may yet find out what happened. Let's wait until the investigation is complete," said Pinto Monteiro. "But if we fail, it won't bring any disgrace for the Portuguese police. Unfortunately, it happens everywhere."

Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine's parents, this week launched a fresh appeal for information about their daughter's whereabouts, telling CNN in an interview that she had become iconic of missing children. They walked hand-in-hand to church in Rothley on Saturday without speaking to the media, AP said.

The McCanns have been named as formal suspects in the case -- or "arguidos" -- under Portuguese law, along with another British man, Robert Murat. All deny involvement in Madeleine's disappearance.

Madeleine, then age 3, disappeared from the family's holiday villa in Praia da Luz on the evening of May 3, 2007, as her parents dined in a nearby restaurant.

Police later released sketches of a scruffy, mustachioed man who witnesses claimed to have seen carrying a young girl matching Madeleine's description.

In an interview Friday, the McCanns told CNN they would never give up the search for their daughter until she is found.

"We believe there is a very good chance Madeleine is out there," Gerry McCann said. "There is certainly no evidence to suggest otherwise and we are doing our best to find her. At the moment we've got a few pieces of a jigsaw and a huge gap and what we are trying to do is build that information."

The couple also reiterated their support for the introduction of a Europe-wide alert procedure for missing children similar to the "Amber alert" system in the United States, which advocates credit with cutting rates of child abduction.

"We are interested in making a world safer for children," Gerry McCann said. "This is something that could be implemented and it will save lives." Watch the McCanns explain how they are surviving »

"The chances of Madeleine being found are at least as good if not better than in those first few days," Kate McCann said.

"We know she's been abducted by a man. Other than that we just don't know anything. There's a whole range of scenarios in which she could still be alive."

The couple described the night of Madeleine's disappearance as a parent's "worst nightmare" and the "most horrific situation imaginable." Watch how the McCanns kept Madeleine in the spotlight »

"Every parent can imagine it but they will probably never feel that desperation," said Gerry McCann. "Any parent knows that fleeting feeling in a park or in a supermarket: Where's my child? And then there's that terrible realization."

The McCanns said they were now trying to lead an "ordinary family life" amid the campaign to find Madeleine, and said their three-year-old twins' routine of swimming lessons and nursery classes has proved a welcome distraction from the search.

The pair are still too young to comprehend their sister's disappearance and still include her in their games, Kate McCann said.

"They do lots of role playing with toys in which they still include Madeleine," she said. "If she walked through the door, I think they would be like: 'Madeleine's back, let's go to the park!'"

But the couple admitted that a normal life was impossible while Madeleine remains missing.

"The concept of saying, let's go out and have a nice meal even a year down the line that doesn't hold any appeal or enjoyment," said Gerry McCann. "We need to know everything and we will never give up."

"You have moments when you are exhausted and you think you can't do this anymore but it's a second, a moment," Kate McCann said. "Because you never give up. Who would give up on their own child?" E-mail to a friend

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